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My Bro needs a new computer ...

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Ragusa, Jul 12, 2010.

  1. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

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    After my brother destroyed his notebook through recklessly handling a glass of water, he has become disenchanted with the concept of notebooks. As a result he is inclined to get something like a real computer. I applaud that.

    His uses will be writing, surfing the internet, e-mails and watching the occasional DVD. He doesn't want the computer to take up much space either. And it ought to be comparatively cheap.

    He asked me for advice, and I consider suggesting him to build a barebone computer. Proposed specs:
    Price for the set is ~ € 450. I will leave him my old Windows Vista license, and he can then upgrade his comp to Windows 7.

    Any opinions, suggestions? Are there better ways to meet his requirements?
     
  2. Drugar

    Drugar And now... we wait! Veteran

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    Most important question: what's his budget?

    If he wants to watch DVD's maybe it's a good idea to swap the CD writer for a DVD writer? Prices aren't far apart these days.

    A link to get ideas from: http://global.msi.eu/index.php?func=prodpage2&maincat_no=729&cat2_no=614

    These kind of solutions are in the uprise nowadays. No great performers, but excellent for the tasks you describe!
     
  3. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

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    Budget limit is € 400 to 450.

    ---------- Added 0 hours, 6 minutes and 13 seconds later... ----------

    Thinking of your link, I have had an eye on nettops but have then moved towards a barebone because they offer more power for approximately the same or slightly higher price. From the price of about € 450 that I mentioned there's € 100 for the TFT.

    Why buy an MSI Wind Box DE500, listed for about €319 or so, if I can get a Core 2 Duo with 2,8 GHz and 4GB RAM over an Atom, and 2GB for just thirty Euro more?
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2010
  4. Drugar

    Drugar And now... we wait! Veteran

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    I don't know the exact prices for where you live. Guess you could get cheaper options than that, although they remain up for the task and in a small form factor.

    Where do you live?
     
  5. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

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    Next door i.e. Germany.
     
  6. Taza

    Taza Weird Modmaker Veteran

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    Is there any good reason to avoid the Eee Box 1501?

    ERIT: Read the thread again. Blech. The nettop boxes provide adequate power for your purposes; and far more importantly, they're easy to maintain, small and don't have any compatibility issues.
     
  7. Drugar

    Drugar And now... we wait! Veteran

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    Actually, it could be a nice option after all.

    At Alternate.de, you can buy a Asus Eee Box starting at €249,-. That would give your brother enough money to buy a nice 22" or 24" LCD screen too! Only catch is it doesn't have a CD or DVD drive. I don't know what your brother's knowledge is about computers, but he could very well manage without!
     
  8. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

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    My bro is a user :)

    Interesting suggestions btw. Keep it going.
     
  9. Drugar

    Drugar And now... we wait! Veteran

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    Hehe, that says is all ;)

    When I have some more time later today, I'll take a look for you again.
     
  10. Merlanni

    Merlanni Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I used the barebone configurator on alternate.de and selected a system for 429 euro with 750 gb 4 gig ddr3 and an a 7500.

    Asus Vintage7-P5G41E 117
    Intel® Core™2 Duo Prozessor E7500 122
    Dolphin DIMM 4 GB DDR3-1333 Kit 90
    Samsung HD753LJ 750 GB 55
    LG GH-22LS 25

    I would say build it.

    As an Amd user i also made an AM3 setup for 370 using the AMD Athlon II X2 240e 2.8
     
  11. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    I'd suggest the Asus EeeBox. For the most basic computer needs, and want of smallness, it fits the bill perfectly. :thumb:

    As much as I dislike them, All-in-One computers are also a fairly good option for "users". :p
     
  12. Marceror

    Marceror Chaos Shall Be Sown In Their Footsteps Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    All in one's have their place, but I personally find them way too restrictive. I like being able to customize, customize customize, and there's only so much of that you can do on one of those puppies.

    They are great for "low end" corporate users. Monitor and PC all in a single, easy to carry piece of hardware.
     
  13. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    From what Rags said, that's excatly what we're dealing with here...just without the "corporate" part. :p
     
  14. Ragusa

    Ragusa Eternal Halfling Paladin Veteran

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    Thanks for the suggestions: I discount all-in-one-computers for practical reasons - my bother wants to reuse one of my 19" 4:3 TFTs when I get my 22" 16:10/9 Full HD TFT ...

    In that light, my brother so far has two options: The EeeBox or the barebone build. The latter will clearly be more capable and serve longer.

    If I go for the barebone build - having built my box a while ago and not intending to upgrade any time soon I am out of the loop as far as which brand of chip manufacturer is concerned - is he better advised to buy an AMD dual or triple core or should he go for Intel? From what I understand, the AMD boards tend to come with superior graphics cards than the Intel's (usually ATI 3200 vs. Intel GMA 4500).
     
  15. Fallen Paladin

    Fallen Paladin The One and the Same Veteran

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    For a budget PC, AMD is often the better choice. You can get a triple core Athlon for something like 70 Euros. And yes, their IGPs are superior. As for the desktop Atom systems, I find them to be too underpowered, just pay a bit extra and you get a lot more performance.
     
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